When a pregnancy goes wrong, immediate medical care matters

I have experienced the heartbreak of miscarriage twice.

Both times, I lived in Washington state, and when my pregnancies ended, I received prompt medical care in a hospital or clinic. There was never a question whether I would be allowed to receive the care my doctors said I needed. Statistics show that one in five women will miscarry.

That experience has stayed with me as I hear the debate over Proposition 1.

I want people to understand something that can get lost in arguments about abortion: a failing pregnancy is not always a simple matter of waiting for nature to take its course.

There can be a long and dangerous stretch between knowing that a pregnancy cannot continue normally and a woman being critically ill. During that time, infection, hemorrhage, and other serious complications can develop. Doctors need to be able to act before a patient becomes critically ill — not wait until the danger is unmistakable. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists specifically warns that physicians need to intervene before a patient acutely deteriorates.

And pregnancy does not somehow make a woman's other medical conditions disappear. She may have diabetes or other medical conditions. A woman can develop cancer, suffer liver or kidney disease, or face another serious health condition while pregnant. A wanted pregnancy can also involve a devastating fetal anomaly. Sometimes ending a pregnancy is medically necessary to protect the patient's health or life.

We would not tell a cancer patient, “Wait until the Legislature decides whether your doctor is allowed to treat you.” We trust doctors to diagnose the problem, explain the options, and provide appropriate medical care.

Why should pregnancy be treated differently than any other healthcare concern?

These are not abstract questions for the woman sitting in that examination room. She is someone's daughter, mother, wife, sister, or friend. She may be desperately hoping for a healthy baby while simultaneously facing a medical crisis she never imagined. If this were your daughter or your wife, would you want her to get the best medical care possible when that care is vitally needed?

I don't expect everyone to feel the same way about abortion. But I hope we can agree on this: when a pregnancy goes terribly wrong, women deserve compassionate medical care before they must become critically ill to receive it.

I will vote yes on Proposition 1 because it restores the safe, quality, medically sound reproductive healthcare Idahoans relied on for 50 years.

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Ethel Steinmetz Marmont is a resident of Coeur d'Alene.